Daily Archives: December 26, 2012

Republicans and Democrats Should Agree to Do No Harm

By Dan Kervick

I suppose it is has become too much to expect that the White House and US Congress might actually succeed in doing something useful for the economy at some point in the near future.  But perhaps they could at least settle on the wisdom of Hippocrates and agree to do no harm.   Why not agree on a statement like the following:

Given the recent decline in the federal deficit – a natural result of US economic recovery – both parties agree the best economic policy for our country right now is to adopt a “wait and see” strategy.  Rather then putting pressure on fragile private sector balance sheets by peremptorily reducing spending or raising taxes, we have concluded that it is best to allow the recovery to continue to take hold by standing pat with our current level of fiscal accommodation.  Mindful of the hopeful economic signs and the self-stabilizing reduction in the deficit,  we have agreed to repeal the Budget Control Act of 2011 and extend the payroll tax holiday at this time, and to stand ready to reevaluate the situation as economic developments merit.

Then come back in January and pass further middle class tax relief.  Obama gives up on his grand bargain dreams; Republicans give up the goal of attacking entitlement programs.  Both sides eat a little crow after putting the country through two years of wholly unnecessary debt hysteria.

Obama should listen to Obama about avoiding Self-Inflicted Wounds

By William K. Black

On Friday, December 21, 2012, President Obama announced:

“‘As of today I am still ready and willing to get a comprehensive package done,’ Obama said, specifically urging lawmakers to craft a deal that would protect middle-class Americans from a tax hike set to be implemented if no deal is met.

Obama said he spoke with GOP House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) Friday, asking the congressional leaders to come up with a smaller fiscal package in the next 10 days.

‘Now is not the time for more self-inflicted wounds, certainly not coming from Washington,’ Obama said.”

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How to disarm Trump’s Treasonous “Nuclear Weapon”

By William K. Black

Donald Trump’s specialty is unintended self-parody and his recent statements on Fox News about how Republicans should engage in domestic economic terror by using a “nuclear weapon” against our economy prove that one can become wealthy and famous without having even the most tenuous grasp of patriotism, reality, logic, or ethics.  Here is Newsmax’s story of Trump’s treasonous ode to nuking the nation.  (Newsmax is an ultra-right site sympathetic to Trump, so their description was not slanted against him.) Continue reading

Government Financial Asset Addition = “Deficit”; Government Financial Asset Destruction = “Surplus”

By Joe Firestone

The word “deficit,” when applied to the Government financial accounting of a monetarily sovereign nation, that is, one that issues a non-convertible fiat currency, with a floating exchange rate, and no debts in a currency it doesn’t issue, is a problem, because the label “deficit” when applied to such a Government doesn’t mean what most people think it means. As Michel Hoexter points out:

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